Page 26 of Second Round

Being on a date was so strange. I was the one who planned everything, including dates. Brent would decide what kind of food he felt like eating, and I would find a place andbookit.

Then we swung up Capilano Road. Were we going to the Suspension Bridge? Ugh, that was so touristy, but maybe Leo liked that kind of thing. There weren’t many nice restaurants up here, unless we were going to Edgemont Village.Stop stressing, Jackie. I yanked the brakes on my thought process and leaned back on the leather upholstery. It was a surprise, and I wasn’t the mom-in-chargerightnow.

I exhaled. It felt good to give up control. I had been the worrier for far too long. “How are you enjoying Vancouversofar?”

He shrugged. “I haven’t done that much exploring yet. Joining while the team is still playing means I have a lot to do. Maybe once the season’s done, I’ll have more time. That’s why tonight is niceforme.”

He pulled into the parking lot of GrouseMountain.

“Oh. This is where we’re going?” I laughed. “We’re not doing the Grouse Grind,arewe?”

“What’sthat?”

I pointed to the snowy peak of Grouse, which we couldn’t even see from here. “You hike up the mountain. It’s a pretty steep trail. Every summer they have to rescue a few tourists who don’t know what they’re getting into. But the view up top is amazing, and you get to ride the cablecardown.”

“Oh yeah, I think the hockey team does that as a part of training camp. Have youdoneit?”

“Not for years. I’m a trail runner, but I like to keep my runs short.” And relatively flat. These days I was more worried about getting injured, like so many of my running buddies. We got out of the car, and Leo grabbed a gym bag from thetrunk.

“Trail running. That’s how you keep in shape.” His gaze raked over me, and I flushed. What was it about this guy? We’d barely touched each other, yet I could feel this intense connection between us. Connection? It was lust, pure andsimple.

We took the gondola up the mountain with a bunch of skiers. It was early evening, but the sky was already dark. The higher we got, the more snow was visible on the trees around us. As we looked back towards Vancouver, the city spread out beautifully in front of us. The orange remnants of the setting sun meant we could still see the ocean, Stanley Park, and even a distant wedge of VancouverIsland.

“It’s so beautiful,” I exclaimed. Leo nodded. He was right beside me, so close that I could feel the warmth of his arm under the cushioning of his downjacket.

Once we got to the top, it was like a winter wonderland. There was snow everywhere, the evergreens sagging under their snowy canopies and the ground sparkling in the artificiallight.

“Wow. It’s like we’ve come to a completely different land. The snow is sobeautiful.”

Leo laughed. “Typical Vancouverite. It’s not quite as beautiful when you have to shovel it off the driveway every morning so you can gettowork.”

“Where did you live before?Montréal?”

“My last team was in Albany. You know, in New YorkState.”

I turned around to look at the city views again. I pointed out a few landmarks to Leo. “It was such a good idea to come up here. I forget how beautifulVancouveris.”

“Yeah. It’s my first time to see it like this—all laid out in front of me. Helps me to getoriented.”

“It’s easy to drive around Vancouver. The mountains are always north of you. So, are we going todinner?”

“Nope.” He grabbed my hand and led me off the platform—right to theskatingrink.

“What? We’re going skating?” Panic stations! I’d done a lot of in-line skating with the kids but hardly any ice-skating. There was a ton of potential for klutzyembarrassmenthere.

Leo wore an impish grin. “It’s my theory that the first date should be something I’m good at. Then you’ll be impressedwithme.”

I laughed loudly. As if he needed to impress me anymore than he had by wearing a towel. “So, the second date will be somethingI’mgood at?” Then I wondered if I should have even mentioned the second date. What if there wasn’t one? But I was already having a wonderful time, and we’d onlygottenhere.

He nodded. “Thatsoundsfair.”

After we put on our skates—mine were rentals, but he had his own well-worn ones, we went out on the ice. “Have you skated at all?” he asked. Right now I looked like Bambionice.

“Not much,” I admitted. Skating was a great idea though, because it meant that Leo needed to hold onto me. Landing on my butt was not the first impression I wanted to make. He wrapped a strong arm around me and made me feel warm, tingly, andexcited.

We did a couple of very slow laps around the rink. It wasn’t a full-sized rink, and luckily there weren’t that many peopleonit.

“Okay. Time to take the training wheels off,” Leo said. He started to let goofme.

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